36 — THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE LORD

January 1

Presence of God. — I draw near to You, divine Little Child, desirous of receiving into my soul the first drops of Your most precious Blood.

Meditation

1 — The Magnificat antiphon of First Vespers wonderfully synthesizes the spirit of today’s feast: “Because of the immense charity with which God loved us, He sent His Son under the likeness of sinful man.” To the consideration of God’s immense charity, which has illumined and dominated all the Christmas feasts, there is added the vision of the Son of God sent to us under the likeness of sinful man; this is the characteristic of this solemnity. To transform us sinners into children of God, the Father’s Only-Begotten willed to transform Himself into one of us, even to taking our flesh of sin and undergoing all its most humiliating consequences. The law of circumcision could in no way touch Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One par excellence; but Jesus willed to submit to it as the last son of Abraham, because, as St. Paul teaches, “He had to be made in all things like His brothers... so that the sins of the people might be expiated” (Heb. 2, 17). The rite, perhaps performed by Joseph in the intimacy of the family, made the first drops of His precious Blood flow from Jesus’ immaculate flesh.

Eight days after His birth, He thus begins His bloody mission as Redeemer: He does not speak yet, He is not known by the world, and already He sheds His Blood for the world’s salvation.

Looking at Him we learn that deeds are worth more than words, that the more deeds cost sacrifice, the more they are proof of true love, and that, to be fruitful, every work must have its baptism of blood.

2 — The feast of the Circumcision coincides with the beginning of the civil year: the first drops of Jesus’ Blood seal and consecrate each new year, truly making it annus Domini, the year of the Lord. Time is of God, our life is of God and of Christ, who repurchased and sanctified everything with His Blood.

Let us begin the year by circumcising our hearts because, according to what St. Ambrose teaches, “he who is circumcised in vices is judged worthy of the Lord’s gaze. Circumcision... See how the whole sequence of the ancient law was a figure of the future; because circumcision too means purification from sins” (BR.).

New year, new life; new life because, by circumcising in us “the old man” with his vices and passions, “the Christian” will grow in us: a new creature purified by Christ’s Blood, enlivened and nourished by His grace, so that no longer we live, but Christ lives in us. The year beginning today has value only in relation to this: only insofar as, day by day, grace will triumph ever more in us to make Christ’s life grow in our souls.

Another teaching of today’s feast is Jesus’ humble submission to His Father’s will, manifested through the law: in this we see an invitation to adhere docilely to God’s will, whatever it may be. None of us knows what awaits us in this new year; but God knows: His will has already prepared our path, every detail of our life is already decided in His mind. Let us dispose ourselves to accept, to embrace with courage and readiness every divine will, every divine permission, certain that only in God’s holy and sanctifying will shall we find our peace and our sanctification.

Colloquy

“O Word, no sooner are You eight days old than You give me Your Blood: and what do You prepare for me with this Blood?... obedience. Three things You show me in this Your Circumcision; obedience toward God, meekness with Mary, justice with us” (St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi).

Allow, O Jesus, that the first drops of Your most innocent Blood descend to purify and intoxicate my poor soul. I understand: from Your very first days You hastened to shed Your Blood, because You wanted to show us immediately that You are our Savior and Redeemer. This shedding of Blood was not necessary for You, Son of God, holy with the holiness of Your Father, but it was necessary for me, poor creature born in sin. And You, for me, willed to humble Yourself even to submitting to the law made for sinful men. O my Lord, teach me to be humble and obedient, You, innocent Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, did not disdain the cut of circumcision; and I, who am a sinner, shall I perhaps assume the posture of a just man? Shall I resent it if I am judged imperfect, and seek to hide my defects under the cloak of false excuses? Oh, You teach me that in no way can I be Your follower, nor can I become like You, if I do not accept humbling myself with You, most humble!

Teach me also to obey, to submit myself to the will of the heavenly Father, whatever it may be and whatever sacrifice it imposes on me. “I consider this new year as a blank page that Your Father presents to me and on which He will write day by day what He has disposed in His divine good pleasure; but already now at the top of the page I write with total trust: Domine, fac de me sicut vis; Lord, do with me what You will. And at the bottom of the page I already place my Amen, so be it, to all dispositions of Your divine will. Yes, O Lord, yes to all joys, to all sorrows, to all graces, to all labors You have prepared for me and will reveal to me day by day. Grant that my amen may be the paschal amen, always followed by alleluia, that is, pronounced with all my heart, in the joy of a complete self-giving. Give me Your love and Your grace and I shall be rich enough” (Sr. Carmela d. Spirito S., O.C.D.).